6,658 people naturalized in the first half of 2023, 18.3% less than the previous year.

The number of naturalizations in Austria declined by 18.3% in the first half of 2023. Only 6,658 people were naturalized, including 833 residents in Austria. However, the number of naturalizations of people with residence in Austria has increased by 1.5%. Almost a third of the people naturalized in the first half of 2023 were born in Austria. Half of the naturalizations were women, and around a third were under 18.

Around a third of the new Austrians were previously citizens of Syria, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Afghanistan. The most common nationalities of people naturalized under Section 58c of the Austrian Citizenship Act in the first half of 2023 were Israel, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

In six federal states, more people were naturalized in the first half of 2023 than in the previous year. The largest relative increases were in Burgenland (+25.9%), Styria (+22.2%), Lower Austria (+21.7%), and Upper Austria (+14.8%). The numbers were lower in Vienna, Salzburg, and Carinthia than in the previous year.

Almost two-thirds of all naturalizations in the first half 2023 were based on a legal entitlement. This includes 2,816 people who were naturalized after at least six years of residence in Austria and for particularly justifiable reasons (e.g., proven German language skills and sustainable integration, birth in Austria, EWR citizenship or asylum seeker status, or politically persecuted persons and their descendants). 333 people received citizenship based on marriage to an Austrian citizen, and 211 people based on at least 15 years of residence in Austria and sustainable integration./APA